Fisheries (United Kingdom v. Norway) - Representatives of the Parties at the public hearings opening on 25 September 1951

Communiqu4 No. 51/29,
Unoff icial

The followi~g informatiof rom the Registry of the International
Court of Justice. has been communiçate o the Press:

I The International Court of Justice will si2,as from September
25th, 1951, at the Peace Palace ln The Hague for the hearings In the
Fisheries Case betwecn the United Kingdom of Great 3ritai.n and Northern
Ireland md Norway.

The proceedings in this case wereinstituted in September, 1949,
by a British Application. The two partieshave, since then, on dates
fjxed bj'the Court with their agreement, filedin the Registry an
unusuallylargc amount of documents. The aejoinder, the last of the
pleadings, was filed by the Norwzgian Governent on April gth, 1951.

Th representativc of the twb Govemments in Court will be:

For the United Kingdam:

Agent: Sir Eric Deckett, K.C.W.G., K;C,, Legd Adviser, Foreign Office,

togcthcr with thc following es Cornsel: .

The Right Konourable
Sir Frank Soskice, K.C., &!.Pm,Attorney-General.

Professor C,Sl.ivi. WaldocCdi.G., O.B.E., K.C., Chichele Professor
af Publicinternational Law
in the University of Oxford.

Mr, R.0, Wilberforcc M,ember of the Znglish Bar.
~
$Ir. U.H.N. Johnson, ~ssistant Legal Adviser, Foreign Office .

md accampanie by the followlng as Advisers:

Cormander R,B. Kennedy, O.B.E. , R.N. (retiredH lydrographic
Department, AMralty.

Mr,W.H. Zvans, Hydrographic Department, Admiralty.
~
H$ycstcrottsadvoka Atnnaeus ~chjddt, Legal Adviscr td 'the British
Embassy in Oslo,

Mr. W.S. Hana, FfilitaryBranch, Achiralty.

Pir. A.S. Ametrong , FisheriesDepartment, Ministry of 'A@içulturc
and Fisheries.

For Narww:

~crit and Counscl:

accoq anied by:

lI.Maurice Bourquin, Professor at tha Universiiy of Geneva and
ai the Graduate Tnstitutc of
International Studies . ,

together with .., together with the following experts:

PIN. W. coucheron-~amot, Captain of the Norwegian floyal b ab,
for the dernonstration of maps , etc.

Paal.Berg, former President of the Supreme Court of Norway, y

Cd. Hambm, President of the Odelsting.

Frede Castberg, Professor at the University of Oslo.

Lars J. Jorstad, ?~lllinister pleriipotentiary,

Chr. ~eyer, Captain of the Norwegian Roy-aï Navy,

Gmnar Rollefson, Director of the Research Bureau of the
Norwegian Departmen otf Fisherics,

Reidar Skau, Judge of the Suprcme Court of Norww,

Trygve Ukheirli, Prefcct of the districtof Mure and Rornsdal,

E,A, Colban, Chiof of Division in the Norwegian Royal
Ministryfor Foreign Aff airs,
, i.
Jens Evenscn, of the Norwegian Bar,
. .
AndrG Salomon, Doctor of Law, dorniciled in Geneva,

andM. Sigurd EkeLand, Secrctarj to th2 NorwegianRoyd Ministryfor
Foreign Affairs, as Secretary.

Al1 the $lembers of the J;nt,emational Court of Justice will take
their seats on this occasion, with the exception of Judge Fabels and
Judge Krylov, are prevczted by reasons of their heaJkh from coming
to The Hague.

. .."
The submissions of the United Kingdom Goverment were set out
'in its Application. The Govornment~s claim is that the Norwogian ~ovenvnon*
in laying dom, In thi exbrame noï-th.of.t coentry, base-lines for the
purpose of delliting the fishery zonc reservcd for the exclusive use of
national3 , has not,ifolloyed the principles of international law applicable
to the circmstances; it follows that maritirne zones of a considerzble
' area are closed to British fishing vessels, Fihereas they foma pert of tho
hi& seas ad should, as.such, be open to fishing by ail nations. The
United Kingdom Crovemvnentthereforc jnvitzs the Court to declare the

rglevant pri?ciples of internatianal law ad, theresft er, to define the
base linesfrom which the Worwegian Governent is entitled to reserve a,
fishing zone.

The Morwegia Governent has in its pleadings :ro jectod. the
British arment; it claims thzt the decisians wkich it has twen are
in na way inconsistent with the rulcs of internztional law. .

The Hague, September 2Znd, 1351.